FG Approves Electronic Monitoring For Import Duty Exemption Process

The Federal Government has initiated a significant upgrade to the Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC) process by incorporating an electronic monitoring and evaluation framework (M&E).

This development, announced by the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, aims to enhance oversight and efficiency in managing tax expenditures associated with customs duty exemptions.

In a statement on Monday, Edun outlined the new system’s capabilities, which is designed to support the Federal Ministry of Finance in effectively monitoring and evaluating the impacts of all customs duty exemptions granted to government entities, corporations, NGOs, and international organizations.

“This system is designed to provide a framework to check-mate and restrict ineligible applicants, enforce strict compliance to fiscal policy measures, and provide a robust impact analysis of tax incentives on the economy,” Edun explained.

The minister emphasized that this strategic implementation is intended to curb the misuse of tax expenditures, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of fiscal incentives and strengthening their contribution to the nation’s economic outcomes.

The new electronic monitoring system, known as the Import Monitoring and Evaluation Platform (IMEP), features several key elements aimed at increasing transparency and accountability.

These include a duty claw-back mechanism, electronic report generation, a centralized database, factory geo-location tagging, industry qualification status validation, inter-ministerial departmental agency integration, incentive tracking, and the issuance of Demand Notices to defaulters.

The minister said, “The aim of the IMEP is to ultimately reduce the cost of tax expenditures and ensure that tax incentives positively impact the economy.”

The minister explained that the government sought to refine the process of granting duty exemptions, which has historically been a significant area of fiscal leakage with this measure.